The Autobiography of Mark Twain · Chapter
About General Grant's "Memoirs" explained
Twain recounts his involvement in securing a favorable publishing contract for Ulysses S.
What happens
Twain recounts his involvement in securing a favorable publishing contract for Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, criticizing the Century Company's initial offer of a 10% royalty as exploitative given the book's guaranteed success. He describes Grant's financial distress, his cancer diagnosis, and the betrayal by Ferdinand Ward, while detailing the legal maneuvers to protect the book's proceeds from creditors.
Themes in this chapter
Character and Morality
Twain contrasts Grant's gentle, forgiving nature with his own vengeful thoughts, highlighting moral integrity versus human frailty.
Hypocrisy and Human Nature
Critique of the Century Company's exploitative offer and the public's ignorance of Grant's poverty, exposing systemic hypocrisy.
Mortality and Loss
Grant's cancer diagnosis and impending death frame the chapter, emphasizing the urgency of his memoir and the fragility of life.
Characters to notice
- Mark Twain
Narrator and advocate for Grant; negotiates the publishing contract and expresses outrage at the Century Company's offer.
- Ulysses S. Grant
Author of the memoirs; suffering from throat cancer and financial hardship; discusses Ward's betrayal with Twain.
- Charles L. Webster
Twain's business partner; signs the contract and provides the $1,000 advance to Grant's family.
- Richard Watson Gilder
Editor at the Century Company; informs Twain of Grant's memoir project and the initial offer.
- Fred Grant
Grant's son; present at Mount McGregor and expresses bitterness about Ward's accomplice.
- Livy Clemens
Mentioned as part of Twain's household; not directly involved in the chapter's events.
Key passages
“I told General Grant that the Century offer was simply absurd and should not be considered for an instant.”
Twain advised Grant to reject the Century Company's royalty offer as grossly inadequate.
Twain's intervention leads to a better contract for Grant's memoirs.
“It was a shameful thing that the man who had saved this country and its government from destruction should still be in a position where so small a sum—so trivial an amount—as $1,000 could be looked upon as a godsend.”
Twain expresses outrage that Grant, a national hero, was in such dire poverty that $1,000 was a lifeline.
Highlights the disparity between Grant's public image and private financial struggles.